


The Stranger at the Bottom of the Garden

by CydSA



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-29
Updated: 2011-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-21 23:09:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/230890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CydSA/pseuds/CydSA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kris met the stranger when he was ten. His first wish cost someone his life. Then again at twenty, it cost him his happiness. At thirty, for that last wish, what would it cost him this time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Stranger at the Bottom of the Garden

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Kris made his first wish when he was ten years old.

The kids at school tended to pick on him because he was the smallest. But most of the time he was just sad because his mama was sad, and that was because his papa was so mad all the time. He wasn’t sure why Papa was so mad about everything but he had heard them talking about money. Kris **hated** money.

One day, he sat beneath the willow tree at the bottom of the garden and stared into the rippling creek. He’d tugged off his shoes and socks and watched his toes wriggle beneath the crystal clear water.

“I wish I could make them stop being so mean to me.” He sighed and the water sighed right along with him. The tree whispered to him, light touches to his hair and shoulders as he clutched his knees.

“Be careful what you wish for,” a soft voice said and he looked up at the prettiest person he’d ever seen sitting opposite him across the creek.

“Who are you?” Kris asked, and then winced. “I shouldn’t be talking to you; Mama said I shouldn’t talk to strangers.”

The stranger smiled, all white teeth and sparkling eyes. “I’m here to grant you three wishes.”

“Only genies can do that,” Kris scoffed with the wisdom of all ten year olds.

The stranger laughed and Kris was sure he heard bells in the air. “Oh, Kristopher, I’m going to have so much fun showing you things.”

“What things?” Kris asked and narrowed his eyes.

“Make your first wish, sweetheart,” the stranger said instead and sang, _“Wish me your first wish and wish it well. The first is the best wish or can’t you tell? When you’re a child, what you wish for is true. So make your first wish, Kris and I’ll grant it to you.”_

“But what do I wish for?” Kris asked.

“Anything your heart desires.” Dazzling eyes and white skin made Kris feel something weird, like a tummy ache only not sore. The stranger made him feel scared and excited and Kris thought the stranger’s eyes were like the paper kaleidoscope his mama had given him for his last good school report.

“I wish my mom and dad would stop fighting,” he said suddenly. “I wish it could be like it was before Papa lost his job.”

“Oh, you darling, darling boy,” the stranger crooned. “Done, done and done.”

Then the stranger turned serious and stared at him. _“This is your first wish; for it you must pay. Nothing for nothing or that’s what they say. I’ll take from another and give it to you. Your first wish is granted, there remain only two.”_

Kris watched in fascination as the stranger started to look like glass. “Hey!” he protested. “Where are you going?”

“You only get one wish this time around, Kristopher,” the stranger told him.

Kris knew that he was sulking as he folded his arms and glared. “But you said I get three wishes!”

For one moment, he thought that something dark gleamed in the stranger’s eyes but it was gone so quickly he guessed he must have dreamed it. “Of course you do,” the stranger said. “But you only get one wish every ten years.”

“But then I’ll be **old**!” Kris exclaimed in horror. “I’ll be twenty the next time I see you!”

The stranger faded more until all Kris could see was an outline of light. “Until your twentieth birthday, sweet Kristopher. Make sure that you wish wisely.” And with a pop, there was nothing in front of him but air.

Kris sat there for a moment, mouth agape and his heart beating crazy hard. He got to his feet, picked up his shoes and slowly backed away from the water.

He only turned his back on the creek when he reached the fence to his back-yard. He clambered over it and raced towards his house, sure he could hear the echo of laughter following him the whole way.

His mama was in the kitchen, putting something in the oven. He came up behind her and threw his arms around her hips. She started and laughed. “Goodness, Kristopher! I about had a heart attack.” She patted his head and he breathed in the familiar and comforting smells of apples and spice and mama.

“I missed you,” he told her, following her around the kitchen.

She looked at him and frowned. “Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” she asked. “You were only gone for about ten minutes.” He stared at her. It had felt like he’d been with the stranger for hours.

He shook his head. “I’m fine,” he held out his hands. “Can I help you with something?” It all suddenly felt fragile and precious, here in the late afternoon sunlight with his mama.

“Go and wash your hands then, and you can set the table,” she said and he could feel her watching him as he went off to obey her request.

Dinner was ready by the time Papa got home from looking for work and Kris watched with trepidation as he walked up the path to the house. He was never sure just what his Papa was going to say or do. He usually just waited to speak and followed his Mama’s lead.

He flung the door open and declared in a loud, booming voice, “Kim, you’ll never believe what happened a few minutes ago!” He didn’t look angry and Kris felt his shoulders relax.

His mama rushed from the kitchen, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. “You got a job?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, sweetheart, I got a call from Mr. Teague and he offered me my old job at the bank back.”

She frowned. “But didn’t they give that to Charles Browder?”

His papa nodded. “They did but apparently Browder dropped dead with a heart attack this afternoon and then Mr. Teague called me and asked me to come and help out with a view to the position becoming permanent later.”

“Oh, honey, that’s awful about Charles,” Kim looked down at Kris. “His son, Charlie is your friend, isn’t he?”

Kris nodded, something hard and spiky stuck in his throat. Charlie Browder was his _best_ friend and now his dad had died.

“You should make something,” Neil suggested and then he sighed. “I am so glad to have some work again, but dear Lord in heaven, what a terrible way for it to happen.”

Kim hugged him hard. “The Lord has always worked in mysterious ways, honey.”

Neil kissed her cheek. “I’ll call Charles’ wife later, find out if there is anything we can do.”

They embraced there in the doorway and something inside Kris went soft and liquid and afraid. “Why did you have to kill him?” he whispered to the air and he could have sworn he heard a laugh like the sound of water answering him back. The tinkling bells in the air made him shiver a little and he moved closer to his parents without being quite sure why all the hair on his body suddenly stood up.

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He watched his papa get promoted many times and his mama started colouring her hair and wearing makeup. They didn’t spend as much time together as they used to but at least they didn’t fight all the time.

His mama talked about more children but they never came along. They bought cars and houses but something always seemed missing. They had lots more money but somehow they sort of lost each other along the way.

Kris forgot about the stranger in the years that passed.

Sometimes, walking to school, just out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of eyes like multi-coloured spinning wheels but he usually blinked and there was nothing there. But he knew that _someone_ kept watching him.

He stopped being friends with Charlie when the guilt threatened to swallow him whole. He put the price of his family’s happiness, Charles Browder’s death, far away from him. Far enough that it never touched him again.

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He fell in love with Tommy in high school. He didn’t plan it but there it was. This guy came up to him and asked him if he wanted to join his band and it felt like someone just hit him over the head with a baseball bat.

Tommy was taller than him and sharply pretty, with blond hair and amber eyes and a mouth that seemed made to smile. Kris thought he might be the prettiest thing ever in the history of the world.

Tommy introduced him to Monte and Isaac, and Kris found himself with friends who liked the same things he did. They liked music and beer and talked about becoming famous and Kris wanted it. And he wanted Tommy too.

But he knew that his mama wanted grand-children and he knew that it meant that he’d have to get married. He wasn’t sure what he should do because, the thing was, he didn’t really like girls that way.

One day, he and Tommy were in the basement of Monte’s house waiting for the other two to arrive. Monte’s mom had waved them in and told them that Monte was running late. They clattered down the stairs and Tommy opened the small window looking out onto the garden.

“You want a hit?” Tommy asked and rolled a joint.

Kris shot a quick glance out of the window and then nodded when he spotted Monte’s mom driving off.

Tommy passed him the joint and Kris inhaled deeply. “So, when you gonna make your move, Allen?” Tommy asked him and Kris nearly choked on the smoke he’d just sucked in.

“What?” he blurted. “No! I mean, I think you got the wrong…” Tommy just leaned over and kissed him and it was everything Kris had hoped and dreaded it would be.

Tommy’s mouth tasted like smoke and beer. Kris made a small noise at the back of his throat and kissed him back.

They made out for a while, movements lazy and slow thanks to the weed. Kris leaned back on the sofa and Tommy followed him down, pushing their t-shirts up so that they were skin on skin. Tommy’s hands were like magic, sliding his long fingers into Kris’ jeans and stroking his cock until Kris felt his whole body clench up and he came harder than he ever had before.

Monte shouted from the top of the stairs, “Finished fucking with the baby yet, Thomas?”

Kris tucked his head into the curve of Tommy’s neck and moaned in humiliation. “Shut the fuck up, Pittman!” Tommy shouted back. “You’re just jealous ‘cos at least I’m getting some.”

He tipped Kris’ face up to his and kissed him again as Isaac and Monte clattered down the stairs and made gagging noises when they saw them. “We good?” he asked.

Kris nodded. “Yeah, we’re good.”

Tommy arched an eyebrow. “We can’t be advertising this around town, you know that right?”

And Kris was pathetically grateful that Tommy was so cool because he wasn’t sure how he’d tell his parents that he had a boyfriend.

And for the last few years of high school and the first two years of college, they _were_ boyfriends. Everyone knew that they were a couple but no-one talked about it and they didn’t confirm or deny it.

They shared a dorm room and a bed at college. They shared gas costs and went on holidays with each other’s families and if people mentioned that they seemed _too_ close, Kim Allen would just laugh and say that Kris needed Tommy to drag him out of his shell. And Tommy’s mama would say that Tommy needed Kris to stop him from doing crazy things.

Tommy wanted to tell their parents about them when they started their third year in college. They’d all moved into a house off campus and Kris was enjoying the freedom of just being with Tommy. He said that he wasn’t ready. He said that he was afraid. He said that he loved Tommy but that he wanted things to go on the same way.

Tommy told Kris that he loved him; that he wanted to be with him openly and Kris wouldn’t look at the wounded disbelief on Tommy’s face when Kris refused to even discuss it.

Tommy broke up with Kris after that.

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Kris was twenty when he got to make his second wish.

He missed Tommy like he missed his arm. He’d been with him for almost five years and when Tommy had moved out of their room, it didn’t feel like home any more. He was just grateful that Monte and Isaac were still okay with him staying in the house.

He offered to sleep on the sofa but Monte just shook his head and Tommy moved into his room. Kris felt like something inside him was squeezing at his heart and lungs and ripping him from the inside out. He was so tired of trying to please everyone else in his life that he was making himself sick.

Kris couldn’t bring himself to tell his parents and Tommy didn’t want to be someone’s dirty little secret. Somehow, Tommy let him be afraid, let him deny himself, and stayed a friend. Isaac and Monte never took sides. They made Kris and Tommy spend time with each other and Kris was so very grateful that they didn’t punish him for being chicken-shit.

They, all four of them, made it through the hard months and came out on the other side closer than before.

But he still wasn’t comfortable around girls. He tried dating and failed miserably. His mama kept hinting about those future grand-children she so desperately wanted, eyes hopeful even though he didn’t feel about any girl the way he’d felt about Tommy.

He kept waiting for the spark, the feeling of inevitability that he’d had the first time he’d met Tommy. He missed having someone cuddling with him in bed at night. He missed the touch of skin to skin. He missed kissing and making love and being with one special person.

Kris was walking home from class late one afternoon when a stranger bumped into him, knocking his books out of his arms.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry!” the stranger exclaimed and Kris saw something familiar in the kaleidoscope eyes and curling mouth.

“That’s okay, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” he said and he felt his heart jump in his chest.

They both knelt down in the road, picking up his books in silence. “Studying business,” the stranger said with a sneer as he looked down at the book he’d picked up. The bells that Kris heard this time sounded more like the tolling of a church tower, sonorous, portentous, signalling the end of something.

“It’s for my future,” Kris defended himself but the stranger just smiled. “Do I know you?” he asked eventually.

The stranger’s mouth widened and Kris saw the flash of white teeth. “I’m here to grant you your second wish, young Kristopher,” the stranger told him and then it all flooded back to him.

The willow tree, the creek, the stranger, his wish, Charlie’s dad... “It’s you!” he exclaimed. The stranger stood and gave a little bow.

“I promised you that I would be back in ten years to give you another wish,” the stranger told him, eyes dancing in the heavy amber of the afternoon sun.

“My last wish came true,” Kris said and the stranger nodded.

“I keep my word, Kris,” then the bright eyes went dark. _“Wish me your second wish and wish it well. The second is the worst wish or can’t you tell? When you’re a young man, you wish with your head. So make your second wish and I’ll grant it instead.”_

Kris stared and his brain went blank. “What am I supposed to wish for?” he asked. “The last time I wished for something someone died!”

The sunny smile appeared again and the stranger shrugged. “It’s your wish, Kris, whatever your heart desires.”

And Kris thought about the disappointment on his mama’s face when he told her again that he didn’t have a ‘special girl’ in his life. He thought about Tommy and how happy he had made him and how scared he had been to accept himself. And then he made his second wish.

“I wish that I wasn’t like this,” Kris looked at the stranger. “I don’t want to be gay any more. It causes too many problems. I want to be like everyone else. Find a girl, settle down, get married, have kids, you know?”

This time the stranger didn’t laugh when he made his wish. “Done, done and done,” was whispered and those sparkling eyes were sad and that smiling mouth turned down.

Kris watched the stranger sigh deeply. “Did I do something wrong?” Kris asked.

The stranger sighed once more. “A wish is a wish, and there is no right or wrong.”

“But you don’t like what I wished for,” Kris pointed out.

“It is not for me to judge. This wish was made with your head, not your heart.” The stranger reached out and touched Kris’ cheek. “I hope that the next time I see you, you will be ready to make that third wish, that last wish.”

 _“This is your second wish and you must pay. Nothing for nothing or that’s what they say. The cost will be yours when it’s all said and done. Your second wish granted, there remains only one.”_ The stranger looked at him intently and Kris felt like he was falling into light.

“Kris!” Kris turned when he heard his name and Isaac waved from the front door of their house. “Come on, we’re waiting for you!”

“Coming!” Kris called back and turned to the stranger again.

There was no one there. He looked up and down the long street but it was quiet and empty. An icy breeze caressed the nape of his neck and made him shiver and he hastened inside.

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Kris met Katy the next day.

She ran into him as he was heading up the stairs to the auditorium. She apologized and laughed and Kris helped her with her books and felt something tug at his gut.

She was tiny and pretty. Her eyes were wide and very green. Kris tried to remember why he didn’t like girls.

He took her out for coffee, then for dinner and a movie and then he took her home to meet his mama. Kim thought she was wonderful, the daughter she’d never had, and Kris was happy that his mama was happy.

His friends looked at him a little strangely when he introduced her to them. It was almost as though they thought that he was doing something weird but he felt content with himself.

Monte asked him once, “You sure about this, Little K?” They had just finished their jam session and Katy had come along to listen. Kris had been pretty nervous for her to hear his music but she’d clapped enthusiastically and he’d beamed at her.

Kris nodded and watched as Isaac said something to Katy that made her throw her head back and laugh. The sun caught the spun gold of her hair and for a moment it looked like a halo. Kris thought it could be a sign. “Yeah, it’s what I want,” he told Monte.

Tommy nudged his shoulder. “You going to be able to live with that?” His eyes were kind. “I mean, not so long ago, it was you and me and now here you are with a girl and well, I guess we’re a little concerned.”

Kris nudged him back, grateful that he still had his friend. “Shades of grey,” he said and met Tommy’s eyes briefly, saying what he felt without words. Their relationship had shaped Kris to be the man he was today, but that passion he’d felt for Tommy was gone. It was Katy who was his future now.

“Yeah,” Tommy sighed and his shoulders slumped a little, as though the air had been let out of him somehow.

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One day, after four years, Kris woke up and looked at Katy sleeping next to him and wondered just how his life had happened when he wasn’t looking.

The engagement party was huge and lasted a whole weekend. Kim promised that the wedding would last an entire week. Kris spent most of the weekend in the basement, playing his guitar and trying not to panic.

“Why are you hiding out here, baby?” his mama came down the stairs and looked at him.

He stared hard at the strings of his guitar, praying that somehow he was dreaming and this was someone else’s fucked up life that he’d imagined somehow.

“I’m just all peopled out, Mama,” he mumbled and strummed the tune to ‘The Long and Winding Road’.

“Kristopher, you’re not getting married just because…” she stopped and sat down on the sofa next to him. “I know that I’ve been a big old nag about grandbabies but I don’t want you to…”

Kris looked at her. “It’s okay Mama, me and Katy, we like each other and we fit and our families fit. We’ve been going out for a long while now so it’s about time I got married you know?”

Kim sighed. “Honey, if you’re not sure…”

Kris shook his head. “It’s what I wished for,” he told her and something went cold inside.

He finally understood what the stranger had meant with the warning that the cost of his second wish would be his. He was going to pay for living the life he was expected to live at the cost of his happiness.

Doing what was expected of him was a poor substitute for true love. A warm body and the promise of children was cold comfort when there was no passion.

Kris thought later that might have been the moment when hope finally died.

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Kris married Katy and everyone seemed so very happy that Kris didn’t worry about the fact that he wasn’t bouncing off the ceiling with joy. He was content and surely that was enough.

He thought he spotted a tall stranger in a bright jacket watching him from a corner of the church the morning of his wedding, but when he turned to look, only an arrangement of flowers stood there. Several times, he would see a pair of sparkling eyes but when he focused his gaze it was the sun glinting off a champagne glass or a light catching a silver spoon.

He and Katy slipped into an easy life. He worked at the bank during the day, reporting assistant manager to his dad. At night, if he spent too much time in the basement with his guitar and piano, he thought that at least he wasn’t one of those husbands who went to bars and drank and picked up women.

He and Katy were friends. They never set the night on fire and by their first anniversary, there was very little sex and Kris was okay with it. The only time it became an issue was when Katy kept hinting at children.

Kris made half-hearted noises until she joined the Big Brother, Big Sister program and became the big sister to a ten year old girl who was precocious and demanding. After six months of weekends with Teresa, Katy stopped bugging him.

The fact that he was relieved should have been a clue.

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He met Adam two years after he got married.

Tommy, Monte and Isaac had stayed in touch with him over the years. They kept plugging at the music scene until they eventually brought another singer on board.

Kris had stopped singing with them when he and Katy got married. She had felt that being a ‘wanna-be’ rock star wasn’t the right image for the future manager of the bank. He hadn’t fought very hard to keep his hopes alive.

Part of him hated that Katy’s expectations of him were so very low. The other part of him hated that she’d made him give up his dreams. Then he hated himself because he’d let her mould and shape the course of his future.

Tommy had been pissed when Kris told them that he was quitting the band. Monte and Isaac had both looked at him with identical expressions of pity and that was the worst part of it all. He was letting his friends down and he just wasn’t up to fighting for them, for himself.

Monte told Kris that they couldn’t wait for him forever. He understood. Hated it, but knew that they were right to go on without him. They sent him the first copy of the demo they cut with Adam Lambert.

Kris thought that he sounded like some bizarre cross between an angel and a demon. Tommy laughed when he called him and made the idle observation.

“That about sums up Adam alright,” Tommy said and Kris could hear that ridiculous voice doing runs in the background.

“He sounds amazing,” Kris admitted.

Tommy’s voice went low and fond. “He’s fucking spectacular, man.”

And Kris felt envy burning low in his belly.

“You should come over,” Tommy told him. “I’d really like you to meet him.”

Kris knew that tone. Tommy was in love with Adam. “Yeah, that sounds like a plan,” Kris agreed. “I’ll just have to find some time. The bank keeps me pretty busy.” It was a bullshit excuse and he knew it.

Tommy did too. There was a brief silence and Tommy sighed. “Kris, it’s been too long. We’re still friends aren’t we?”

Kris bristled a little. “Of course, man! You won’t get rid of me so easily.”

He could practically feel Tommy’s glare. “Prove it then, fucker, and meet us at Red Baron this Saturday night. We’re playing a gig there.”

The dare was impossible to refuse and Kris deflated. “Fine, send the details to my mobile and I’ll try to be there.”

“No more excuses, Allen,” Tommy warned.

“Asshole,” Kris muttered.

“Love you too, baby,” then Tommy was gone with a light laugh. Kris sat at his desk, staring at his phone and wondering how the hell he’d got into this at all.

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Katy wasn’t happy when he told her she couldn’t go with him.

“It’s a guy thing,” he told her.

Her eyes narrowed. “I was in the same college as you, Kris. Trust me, I heard all the stories about you and Tommy.”

Kris’s nostrils flared. “That was a long time ago. Me and Tommy, we’re friends now, nothing more. He just wants me to meet their new lead singer and I think his new boyfriend.” He didn’t understand this need to explain, defend himself. He was his own fucking man, goddammit.

“Oh?” Katy asked, shoulders relaxing. “Well, that sounds okay then. It will be good for you to see Tommy with someone else.”

Kris didn’t want to argue. Didn’t want to tell her that he’d already seen Tommy with someone else long ago. Didn’t want to tell her that it didn’t matter, that the time that he’d been with Tommy was like a joyful memory. He’d wished for her and this life. He had to learn to live it. He had no other choice.

“Yeah,” he said instead and she let him go without another protest.

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Red Baron was noisy and crowded. Kris flinched when the sound blasted his ears as he opened the door. Bodies writhed on the dance floor and he spotted the small stage already set up with bass, guitar and drums.

He scanned the club and saw Monte waving at him from a corner. Giving up on being polite, he shoved his way to where his friends were sitting and was engulfed in Monte’s hug before he could see anyone else.

“Little K!” Monte shouted in his ear.

Kris dug a sharp finger into his side. “Shut up, asshole,” he mumbled but grinned into Monte’s sweaty neck.

Then hands pulled him away from Monte and Isaac spun him around and kissed his surprised mouth. “Where the fuck have you been, dickhead?” Isaac asked with a grin when he let Kris go.

“Having a real life,” Kris grinned back, his heart feeling just that little bit lighter.

“Fuck real life!” Tommy yelled and threw his arms around him. “Fuck it right in the ass!”

Kris laughed into Tommy’s mouth as he kissed him. “Hey Tom-cat,” he greeted.

“Don’t you fucking ‘hey’ me,” Tommy pushed back and glared at him. “It’s been months, you douche, you been avoiding us? Do we smell funny?”

Kris flushed, guilty and happy and more than a little at home. “You always smell funny,” he told Tommy who flipped him off.

“What the fuck ever,” Tommy’s face was lit with something more than happiness at seeing Kris. “Adam!” he shouted. “He’s here!”

A tall guy with black hair turned from talking to the bartender at Tommy’s call and Kris felt the world slow down. He watched as the guy smiled at Tommy, something open and wanting in his gorgeous face and Kris just _wanted_.

For the first time in a very long time, he _wanted_.

Adam came towards them - broad shoulders, lean hips, blue eyes. Kris remembered his second wish. He’d wished to not be different, to not feel like this again, but something about Adam made the barriers in Kris’ mind and heart crumble to dust.

“So this is the famous Kris Allen?” His voice was soft, careful and well modulated and it sent shivers through Kris’ entire body. God, life was so very fucking unfair to do this to him.

“Hi,” he croaked and held out his hand.

Long arms went around him and he was hauled against Adam’s chest. He sucked in a startled breath and his senses filled with the scents of summer, sweat and something that smelled suspiciously like home.

And only then did he truly understand what he had paid with when he’d made his second wish. He’d given up every chance of happiness with his soul-mate.

Adam pulled away and Kris stared helplessly into bright blue eyes. “Tommy has told me _everything_ about you,” Adam confided as he sat down at the small table. Kris was squashed up between Monte and Adam and he was shaking so hard he was sure that he was going to break apart.

“Not quite, dude,” Tommy protested with a laugh and Adam grabbed his hand and brought it to his mouth.

“Well, all I can say is that I am grateful you broke up with him otherwise I think he’d have married you and you would have adopted Cambodian babies or something.” Adam looked at Kris with a smile. “You’re a tough act to follow.”

Kris’ gaze flickered to Tommy who wasn’t looking at him. “Tommy’s had other boyfriends after me,” he said but he wasn’t sure suddenly.

Isaac leaned in. “He’s fucked other boys, for sure, but serious about anyone else?” He shook his head. “He was daft for you, Kris.”

Tommy shifted in his chair and Kris saw the slight blush on his cheeks. “Did I really fuck things up so much for you?” he asked.

Monte nudged him with a broad shoulder. “You’re like Pinocchio, Kris.” And they all stared at him when he fell silent.

Tommy held out his hands. “You’re not a real boy. You’re perfect.” He looked at them as if that explained everything.

They laughed then and Adam leaned down and whispered in Kris’ ear, “I’m going to make him happy.”

Kris swallowed hard and nodded. “Make sure you do,” he said and out of the corner of his eye he saw something, someone watching him, but when he turned to look, no one was there.

His heart though, realised that when it came to Adam it wasn’t about sexuality. It was simply who Adam was. The other half of him. And utterly unattainable.

He shook himself out of his daze and focused on his friends. “So, when are you on?” he asked.

“Ten minutes, just enough time for a round of shots,” Isaac declared and waved a waitress over.

“I have to drive home!” Kris protested.

“Dance it off, you’ll be fine,” Monte said. Kris shook his head and laughed.

Adam was brilliant. He was fire and light and Kris couldn’t take his eyes off him. He wanted to push and punch at everyone who was staring at him because Adam felt like he should have been his. His to hold. His to have.

And then Adam looked at him. They were in the middle of an acoustic rendition of ‘Come Home’ and Kris was staring at him and then it happened. It was like lightning hitting Kris right in his heart.

“Oh my god,” he breathed. Adam’s eyes went wide and his cheeks turned white and then flushed and the long, mournful note he was holding wobbled just a little. It was perfect though, because the song was desperate and hopeless and the momentary crack made a much more emotional impact.

Kris was on his feet without realising it. He wanted to run, pretend that he’d never met, never seen Adam Lambert, but his feet wouldn’t move. Kris was frozen in place and his heart hurt in his chest; it was pounding so hard to be free.

“I shouldn’t be here,” the voice murmured behind him and Kris was finally able to move. He whirled around and the stranger stood there, all shadow dark and kaleidoscope eyes. “It isn’t yet time for you to see me again.”

“You’ve ruined everything,” Kris accused. “If you hadn’t come into my life, I wouldn’t have married Katy and then I could…” his chest was heaving as he spoke.

“You made your wish,” the stranger reminded him.

“And look where I am!” Kris exclaimed.

The stranger’s eyes moved past Kris, looked at the stage and then back at him. “He is your soul-mate.”

“You think I don’t know this?” Kris cried. “He’s already in my heart.”

The stranger reached out a pale hand to Kris and then dropped it again. “He always will be.”

“How do I fix this?” Kris begged.

The stranger stepped back, bumped into a tall man. “You don’t.”

“Hey, rude much?” Isaac was breathless as he came up to him. The set was over, had finished while Kris wasn’t watching. “You’re supposed to be watching our awesomeness, dude.”

“Sorry, I was just talking to…” his voice faded away when he saw that the stranger had vanished.

“Who?” Isaac asked.

Kris shook his head. “No one important,” he said finally.

Isaac dragged him to their table where Tommy and Adam were kissing slowly and Monte was rolling his eyes.

“It’s like porn,” Monte explained, pointing at the oblivious couple.

“Live porn,” Isaac agreed and they all watched in fascination. Kris wanted to gouge at Tommy and rip him away from Adam. It was like someone else was inhabiting his body and his skin crawled to escape.

Adam broke away with a giggle and Tommy hid his face in Adam’s neck, flipping them off when they laughed. Only Kris heard the false note in his own chuckle.

“Guys, this has been awesome, but I’d better be getting home. Katy doesn’t like being alone in the house at night too much.” His excuse sounded weak but he was prepared to do anything to get out of here before he did something stupid.

“Wife’s got you on a tight leash, Little K?” Monte grinned.

“I go home to a warm bed and a gorgeous girl every night,” Kris told him, trying for superiority.

“Eh,” Isaac said, “Warm bed, yeah. One girl or guy? God no.” He hugged Kris hard. “Good seeing you, man. Don’t be such a fucking stranger, alright?”

Kris hugged him back, throat clogged with emotion. “I’ll try,” he promised.

Monte raised an eyebrow. “You running away again, Little K?”

Kris shook his head. “It’s late, I have to get home.”

Monte’s slow nod told Kris that he knew he was lying. “Give her a kiss from me, okay?” was all he said.

“Sure,” Kris agreed and turned to Tommy, who wasn’t looking at him. He was staring at Adam, love and wonder in whiskey soft eyes and Adam was staring right back at him, mouth curved in a bemused smile.

“Tell him I said goodbye,” Kris told Monte, waving at Tommy.

Monte sighed. “You’ve been living your life too long trying to please everyone but you.”

Kris tensed. “I’m happy,” he insisted.

“No you’re not, asshole.” Monte’s glare was fierce.

“I don’t need this shit from you, Pittman,” Kris snarled before he spun on his heel and headed for the door.

Monte caught him as he burst out into the cool night air. “I don’t know what changed, Kris, but you’ve barely been alive for the past five or so years.”

“I’m fucking happy!” Kris shouted at him and his fists were clenched, his body aching everywhere.

“You’re fucking existing!” Monte shouted back and then he stopped, shook his head and Kris saw the pity in his face. “I don’t know what happened but you’re dead inside and this ‘life’ you’re in right now is killing you on the outside too.”

“You don’t get to judge me,” Kris was shaking apart, his body held together by small strips of skin and tendon.

“Yeah,” Monte told him and his eyes were sad. “I **do** get to judge you because you’re my friend and I love you.”

“Well, don’t worry about me anymore,” Kris spat. “Consider this my official notice. We’re not friends from here on out.”

Monte’s expression was terrible. And then Kris spotted Tommy and Isaac and Adam, faces pale and horrified. He gritted his teeth and told them all, “I won’t be calling any of you. So please don’t bother calling me.”

Tommy came forward. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” His mouth was thin and angry as he put a hand on Monte’s shoulder.

“I thought that I had place for you in my life, for the music and the freedom.” Kris tried to answer as honestly as possible because it would be the only thing that Tommy believed. “I was wrong.”

He took a deep breath. “The boy who played keyboard with you in a basement, he grew up, got a job, got married.” He shook his head. “That boy doesn’t have the time or space for hopeless dreams anymore.”

“Kris,” Tommy put a hand out.

Kris stepped back. “I hope you guys make it big. I hope you’re successful and sell a million records and tour the world.” He forced a smile, trying to make this all a little less tragic. “I’ll be cheering for you, hell, I’ll even buy your records, but I can’t be part of your lives anymore.”

He risked one more glance at Adam and it made everything inside him scream and wail and sob in desperation and useless denial. “Be happy,” he said, to no one and to all of them and hurried away into the darkness.

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Kris was very good at pretending to be happy. He got so good at it that he fooled practically everyone.

He didn’t fool his mama though, and she often tried to corner him, question him until he finally threatened her with his absence if she didn’t drop it.

She did. But she still watched him, eyes worried and afraid as though she was expecting something to give, something to break.

No one would have guessed that the one to break first would be Katy.

The month before their fourth wedding anniversary, she left him, took their dog, the good china and walked right out of the door.

He felt nothing watching her go. Nothing but a slow oozing emptiness that was steadily engulfing him.

He went and lay down on the sofa and thought about sleeping.

He didn’t sleep at all.

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Kris didn’t sleep for a year.

He kind of felt like Forrest Gump - the guy who ran for a year to deal with his heartbreak.

Only Kris wasn’t broken-hearted. He felt guilty because he didn’t miss Katy. He felt sad because he’d disappointed his family. He felt lonely because his friends were all married and he was the only spare wheel at every party. He hated his job and stayed off on the flimsiest of excuses. Only the fact that his papa was the manager kept him employed.

He took cat-naps where he could, dozed off in front of the TV set and popped sleeping pills like sweets. Nothing helped.

He decided to take the plunge and moved half-way across the country.

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He liked LA. It was a place Kris thought he could get lost in. And Kris wanted to get lost.

He’d fought with his father when he’d quit the bank. Changing his life in mid-stream, digging up his roots, was he going through an early mid-life crisis?

Kris didn’t have any answers. He only knew that he had to make something happen or one day he was going to wake up invisible.

He moved into a small studio apartment off Fairfax in West Hollywood. The only things he brought with him from home were his guitar and his keyboard. He left most of his clothes behind, wanting a fresh start.

His mama had cried a little but in the end, she was the only one who really got it, really understood why he was going.

“You come home whenever you want to, do you hear me?” she’d whispered when she’d hugged him goodbye.

“It might not be for a while,” he’d warned.

“Doesn’t matter,” she’d said. “You’re my baby and I love you no matter what you want to do with the rest of your life.”

So he’d left the only place he’d ever known and run to LA where he’d fallen in love with the noise and the smog and the chance to begin his life all over again.

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The music was what saved him.

He found a job in a bar almost at the end of Hollywood Boulevard. It was dark and dingy and only a few regulars showed up in the week. Kris worked as a bartender there every night and got to play his music on the weekends.

The owner, a quiet blonde named Megan Joy, took one look at him and hired him on the spot. He felt like he’d known her forever. She apparently felt the same and they struck up a quick friendship that graduated to shared meals with her and her son Ryder.

Megan had only one waitress, a boisterous girl called Allison who declared on sight that they’d met in a previous life. Kris made her laugh when he told her that one life of Allison Iraheta was more than enough for anyone. She liked kissing him and did it all the time, sometimes even in public to his consternation. It felt like kissing his sister and so she became family.

Megan and Allison both loved music and often joined him when he played, knitting their three voices into a single sound that would take on a life of its own. Those were the times he loved the most, when the music owned him and made him into someone new.

“You look like a different person when you’re up there,” Allison leaned against the bar counter and stared at him as he wiped off some of the glasses. He had been in LA for three months and it felt more like home than Conway ever had.

“I feel like someone different,” Kris agreed and poured the beers for Cale and Andrew, two of their regular Friday night customers. It was his birthday, the first he’d spent away from Arkansas and he had been kissed several times already tonight.

“Sexy,” Alli winked at him and twirled off with the drinks, stopping to smack at a stray hand.

Kris grinned and looked around. It was busy - well, busy for them anyway. He liked that only about thirty people could squeeze into the small place at a push. He liked that he knew most of the patrons by name.

“Happy birthday, gorgeous,” Megan came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Kris turned a little and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “God, I’m getting old,” he murmured against her soft skin.

“And yet still so pretty,” Megan noted.

“All this in one package,” Kris agreed and grinned when she rolled her eyes.

“Jerk,” she said and looked down. “Could you keep an eye on Ryder for a bit? I’ve made up a bed for him in the office.”

Big blue eyes stared up at him and her four year old son waved. “Hey Kwis,” he said.

“Yo, short stuff,” he crouched down and they bumped fists.

“You stay here and don’t move and listen to whatever Kris tells you to do, okay?” Megan’s stern look made her look like an angry gerbil.

“You look like an angry gerbil,” Kris told her, still crouched down next to Ryder. The kid snort-giggled and Kris grinned at him.

“God, it’s like having two children,” Megan threw up her hands and stomped off.

“Mommy’s not mad,” Ryder assured him.

“I know, buddy,” Kris ruffled his hair and walked into the office with him, helped him pull off his shoes and tucked him into his make-shift bed. “I like teasing her.”

“You gonna mawwy her?” Ryder asked, knuckling his eyes sleepily.

Kris boggled. “Where did that come from?” he asked.

“My Nana asked Mommy,” Ryder told him. “So are you gonna be my daddy?”

Kris stood up suddenly, searching frantically for Megan. He wasn’t sure how to handle this. She was at the far end of the room, talking to Cale. Flirting with Cale. “Stay right there,” he ordered Ryder. He waved Allison over and told her to keep Ryder company for a few minutes.

“Kris?” Megan asked when she saw him coming towards her. “What’s..?”

“I would appreciate it if you could tell your mother to stop talking nonsense to Ryder about me,” he said and his jaw felt tight. He kept his voice low and even, making sure that Cale couldn’t hear them. “I’m not sure where she’s got her ideas but she’s giving them to Ryder.”

Her eyes, the same blue as Ryder’s, were puzzled. “I have _no_ idea what you’re talking about,” she told him.

“Your mother asked Ryder whether you and I are getting married,” Kris informed her.

She started laughing then and it made something inside Kris go hard and cold. “There’s nothing funny about it,” he gritted.

Megan put a hand on his arm. “Kris, my mother has been trying to fix me up with pretty boys since I turned eighteen. You are just one in a long line of possibilities.”

Kris felt stupid and embarrassed. He looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

Megan squeezed him. “I know you’re running from something, sweetie, but maybe you need to just stop for a moment and catch your breath.”

Kris’ startled gaze flew up to meet hers. Megan’s eyes were kind. “I know you’re gay, Kris, it’s okay.”

“I’m not gay!” Kris denied.

Megan’s mouth curved in a gentle smile and she tipped her head to the side. “No judging here, ever.”

Kris flinched and backed away from her but not before he saw the flash of pity on her face. “I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh. “I over-reacted.” He turned around and headed back to the bar.

Allison looked at him questioningly as he walked into the office. Ryder blinked up at him when he crouched down next to him. “Are you mad at Mommy?”

Kris rubbed his hand across the top of Ryder’s head. “No, little man, we’re cool. Now go to sleep okay?”

Ryder nodded and closed his eyes obediently. Kris looked up and saw a sharp face with bright eyes through the office doorway. He narrowed his gaze. A hand came up and waved then someone moved and the stranger was gone.

“Mi hermano, you look like you just saw Casper,” Alli frowned at him.

Kris tore his eyes away from where the stranger had been standing and looked at Alli. “What makes Megan think I’m gay?” he blurted and then flushed. It wasn’t like him to have these sort of mood swings. It felt like his soul was unravelling.

Alli took her time considering him. “I think you think you’re straight,” she said eventually. “Maybe something happened in your past that you’re not quite ready to talk about. But Kris, denying who you are is only going to bring you unhappiness.” Her face was earnest and her eyes were fond.

Kris felt his lips tighten. “I was married,” he felt obliged to point out.

“Eh, married, shmarried,” Alli shrugged. “So was Elton John.”

Kris gaped at her. “I am _not_ Elton John,” he protested.

Alli grinned. “I’d marry you and be your beard if you had his money though.” She danced away when he swiped at her.

Kris was kept busy until about nine when Megan came up to him. “Time to sing for your supper,” she smiled and Kris nodded.

He headed for the small space where his guitar waited and picked it up, sitting down on the chair as he did so. The noise level in the bar dropped and he looked up from tuning the instrument to see everyone watching him. “Evening all, it’s my birthday today,” he said and they all called ‘happy birthday’ back to him.

“So, seeing as I’m twenty-eight and getting older by the second, I’m in a kind of odd mood tonight,” he said and strummed a couple of chords. “I thought I’d start off with this one, so sing along if you know it.”

He sang the opening bars of Jeff Buckley’s version of “Hallelujah” and the bar went silent.

When he hit the chorus, Alli’s raspy voice intertwined with his and blended to form a single sound of pure beauty. As the last notes fell into the quiet, he felt like he was right where he should be for the first time in his life.

The applause brought him back to himself and he flushed when he saw that most of the audience was standing. “Hey now,” he said, waving at them to sit. “Let’s not be giving me an ego, alright?”

The small gusts of laughter warmed him as they all sat once more. “Any requests?”

Several of the usual customers started calling out names of songs he’d played before. He smiled and nodded and then someone said, “Stand By Me.”

Kris looked into the crowd but couldn’t see who had called for it. “I haven’t played that one in a long while,” he admitted and smiled. “It’s a great song and one that means a lot to quite a few people.”

He played the first few notes, plucked his guitar strings and the crowd started clapping along with him. He heard the ache in his own voice as he started singing the anthem for every person who had stood alone and begged for someone he loved to support him.

Megan stood watching him as he sang, her hand at her mouth and her eyes wet with tears. He looked at her as he sang and tried to tell her with his music that he knew she was there for him no matter what. He tried to smile as he played the last few notes and looked down when his throat closed.

The applause was even louder when he was done and he took a deep breath. “Let’s cheer things up a little, okay?” and he launched into “Man in the Mirror” and didn’t stop playing for another half an hour.

Megan put a hand on his shoulder eventually. “Take a break sweetie, or your fingers are going to bleed.” She smiled at him. “There’s someone who wants to talk to you at the bar.”

He nodded, slightly confused, and headed back to the bar, noting absently that his hands were shaking.

The well-dressed guy at the bar held out his hand. “You were fantastic,” he said and his voice was admiring. “I’m Ryan Seacrest.”

Kris shook his hand. “Kris Allen,” he said and went around the bar. “What’ll it be?” he asked.

“Nothing to drink for me, thanks,” Seacrest said. “I just came by to listen to you. A friend heard you last weekend and suggested that I come and take a listen to you.”

“Oh?” Kris said, still confused.

“I’m a producer,” Seacrest said and Kris stared at him. “A record producer.”

Kris opened his mouth but nothing came out. “I’d like to sign you up to my label,” Ryan Seacrest told him.

“Um,” Kris said.

Seacrest held out a card. “Come and see me on Monday morning. Be at this address at eight am and we’ll talk more.”

Kris nodded dumbly and watched the producer walk out of the bar.

Allison and Megan came rushing up. “Oh my god, do you have any idea who that was, Kris?” Alli was practically shouting.

“Ryan Seacrest?” he suggested.

“Ryan Fucking Seacrest!” Alli bellowed. Then she stopped. “What did he want from you?” she asked suspiciously.

“He gave me his card and told me to come and meet with him on Monday,” Kris told her.

“Does that mean..?” Megan’s eyes were dancing.

“He wants to sign me to his label,” Kris said and shook his head. “I have no idea who told him to come and listen to me but whoever his friend is, I owe him about a bazillion beers.”

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He signed with Seacrest Records, made his first album and somehow, he got noticed. His first single from his album was a slow ballad called “I Wished for You” and everyone loved it.

Ryan told him to get a publicist and when Kris looked at him blankly, hired one for him.

“Honestly, if I were a better businessman, I’d fleece you,” Ryan muttered as he glared at Kris.

“Hey, don’t blame me just ‘cause you’re a nice guy,” Kris held up his hands and grinned.

“Fish in a fucking barrel,” Ryan glowered.

His publicist turned out to be a very sparkly sort of guy called Brad Bell. Brad took one look at him and said, “shopping. Right the fuck now.”

He was dragged in and out of every clothing shop in LA. Brad took him to the ladies department for jeans. “That ass was made for skinny jeans, petal,” Brad told him, eyeing said ass. Kris wanted to cover his ass with his hands to protect it.

“I’m not a girl,” he whined.

“Shut up and put these on,” Brad was ruthless, shoving him into the change-room with three pairs of jeans.

“I’m not wearing girl’s clothes,” Kris told him, proud of how firm he sounded.

“Would you like me to come in there and help you into your pants?” Brad called, utterly shameless and uncaring of who was listening.

“You’re fired!” Kris yelled back and quickly tugged on the first pair of jeans he could reach.

“You can’t fire me, Ryan hired me,” Brad informed him. “Now come out here and let me see you.”

Kris dragged himself out of the changing-room and stood in front of Brad, who narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. “I could make some god-awful pun about coming out of the closet right now, but I won’t,” he said and shooed Kris back into the room. “Acceptable, try the black pair next.”

“You’re just perving on my ass!” Kris protested.

“It might be the only perk of the job,” Brad said and Kris scowled.

“So going to fire you,” he muttered.

“I heard that,” Brad called.

“These jeans are too small.”

“Do I really need to come in there?”

“No.”

“They’re the right size.”

“For Barbie.” Kris could actually feel his bottom lip jutting out.

“Incoming!” Brad called and Kris flattened himself against the wall when Brad shouldered his way past the door.

“Hey!” Kris exclaimed and Brad just kept coming.

“Ryan says you’re not seeing anyone,” Brad was right in his face, his eyes curious.

“No,” Kris admitted and felt his body reacting to the proximity of a guy he found attractive.

“Do you _want_ to be seeing anyone?” Brad asked.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” Kris said and Brad kissed him.

Kris had only ever really kissed Tommy and Katy, and kissing Brad was totally different. For one, he didn’t know Brad. For another, Brad was openly gay, unafraid to hide what he wanted. Kris pulled back and stared. “That was unexpected,” he said eventually.

“Indeed,” Brad drawled. “Unexpectedly nice,” and he kissed him again.

They were chased out of the changing-rooms by an irate shop assistant who was only reluctantly appeased when Brad bought over a thousand dollars worth of clothes.

Kris refused to wait for him and scowled at people walking past outside the shop.

Brad sauntered out, loaded with bags and grinned at Kris. “So, dinner?” he asked and Kris found himself dating again.

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Kris laughed more with Brad. He was sharp and snippy and witty and dragged Kris out of his self-imposed hermitage with little fuss. Kris reckoned it was because he was ready to do it.

Allison and Megan loved him on sight and Ryder pronounced him ‘cool’. Kris introduced Alli to Brad’s personal assistant, a fresh faced guy called David. She promptly dubbed him Archie and then moved in with him two months later.

Kris put a payment down on a house and spent his twenty-ninth birthday making love in every room. Brad assured him that it was a gay tradition. Kris doubted it but it was a hell of a lot of fun.

He talked to his parents every week. When he finally told them about Brad and being gay, he was bemused and deflated when they both seemed to accept his sexuality without blinking an eye. It made him want to go back and kick his own twenty year-old ass for being such a coward.

His mama kept him up to date with the goings-on in his home town and he told her about his crazy life. She was happy for him and sent him a bundt cake in the mail for his birthday.

“How do you even do that?” he asked once he called her.

“Mothers know things,” she told him, laughing.

“I love you, Mama,” he said, throat tight.

“You know I love you too, baby.” She was quiet for a moment and then asked, “Are you truly happy, Kristopher?”

He wasn’t sure how to answer her without sounding pathetic. “I’m better than I was. I guess content is a good way to describe it,” he said eventually. “That’s almost like happy, right?”

Kim sighed. “Content is the ugly stepsister of happy, and you know it.”

“I’ve got a great life here, Mama. I have a house, a career, good friends and a boyfriend who hasn’t driven me to murder yet.” Kris tried to make a joke of it but Kim wasn’t having it.

“I want you to be happy,” she insisted. “You deserve it.”

He thought back to when he was ten, the stranger with the beautiful eyes who gave with one hand and took with the other. “I’m not so sure about that,” he murmured, thinking of Charlie Browder growing up without his father.

“Well _I_ am,” she maintained.

And Kris thought about meeting the stranger at twenty and wishing to be like everyone else and what it had cost him for the last nine years. He thought about Adam, that instant soul recognition that had pretty much broken him open and bled him out on the floor of that bar.

And he thought that maybe he was due some happiness. “Thanks, Mama,” he whispered.

“Your father and I want to meet Brad someday soon, okay?” she asked.

He laughed and it came out part sob. “I think Brad would like that.”

“You’ve been together for a while now, it’s time.” She sounded like she wanted to say something else.

“What?” he asked.

“Tommy Ratliff is in LA now,” she said.

Adam.

“Oh?” he croaked.

“I know that you two were more than just friends,” she said.

Adam.

“We weren’t exactly hiding anything,” he told her.

“Well, I’ll text you his phone number anyway and maybe it will be good to see an old face from home,” she told him.

Adam.

“Yeah, okay, that would be good,” he said and his heart beat so hard he was sure she’d be able to hear it.

“Okay, honey, I’m going to let you go now. Happy birthday, baby, I love you.”

Adam.

“I love you too.”

Adam.

Adam.

Adam.

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Kris waited a couple of weeks before he called Tommy. He wasn’t sure if Tommy would want to talk to him. He asked Brad about it.

“You’re asking me whether you should call your ex?” Brad was stretched out on his back on the sofa, head on Kris’ lap. He didn’t sound mad though, just curious.

“It’s only polite,” Kris said. He muted the television.

Brad sat up and turned to look at him. “You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack,” Kris nodded.

Brad took a breath. “I think you have some unresolved issues with your pretty ex.”

Kris stared at him. “How do you know he’s pretty?”

Brad snorted and waved an airy hand. “Please, you wouldn’t date ugly.”

Kris laughed. “I don’t know why I’m still with you.” He was sort of serious about that too.

“Because I’m secure enough in myself to not let you and your issues drag me down and drown me,” Brad replied.

“I don’t have issues!” Kris was indignant.

“Petal, you have issues on top of your issues,” Brad folded his arms. “It’s a fucking good thing I’m not in love with you or I would have thrown myself out of my office building a million times over.”

“You work on the ground floor,” Kris pointed out. He waited for the heartache to start at Brad’s saying those words out loud. It didn’t.

“And there is the classic ‘Kris Allen Bob and Weave’,” Brad told him. “I’m being real, and you avoid the issue being discussed.”

“Which issue?” Kris asked and he was sure a headache was starting.

Brad stood up. “I’m going home before I do something rash,” he declared.

Kris was bewildered. “I have no idea what just happened,” he said.

“I know,” Brad told him and bent down to kiss him. “And yet, I still hang around with you. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

Kris walked him to his car, kissed him again and went back inside. He thought that maybe he and Brad had just had their first fight. Or maybe broken up. He wasn’t sure which. He sat back down and texted Brad.

 _Are we okay?_

 _peachy_

He wondered how one word could just **look** sarcastic.

 _So is it okay if I call Tommy?_

 _you do what you have to do. I’m okay with it._

Kris knew somehow that Brad was being serious and he wondered how lucky he was that he managed to find people that put up with his crap. That stuck around even though he was an inconsiderate, clueless moron.

 _you’re awesome_

 _I prefer jewellery_

Kris laughed. It looked like he and Brad were okay.

So he took a deep breath and dialled the number his mother had sent him.

“Hello?” Hearing Tommy’s voice brought back every memory in a rush of feeling. He couldn’t speak for a moment. “Hello?” Tommy said again.

“Hi Tommy, it’s Kris,” his voice was hoarse.

“Kris Allen?” Tommy sounded dubious.

“The one and only,” Kris said. “My mother gave me your number. She told me that you’re here in LA now.”

There was a short silence and Tommy asked, “I didn’t think I’d ever hear from you again.”

“I’m sorry, I was an asshole.” Kris rushed on when Tommy didn’t say anything. “That night at the bar, I overreacted. I was unhappy with Katy, denying who I really was and seeing you so happy with someone else, it hurt.”

Tommy made a small noise. “You were a dick.”

“Yeah,” Kris agreed. “My boyfriend thinks I am too.”

“You have a boyfriend?”

“Brad, yeah, we’ve been together about six months now.” Kris was determined not to ask but the words came out anyway. “Are you still with Adam?”

Tommy sighed. “No, we broke up about two years ago. He’s still a good friend though.” He didn’t need to say that Kris wasn’t.

“You still play with Monte and Isaac?” Kris asked, desperate to keep the conversation going while wanting to scream with joy at the thought that maybe Adam was free.

“Yeah, we play a little. Monte married Lisa, got himself a couple of kids. Isaac got married last year. Nice chick. We all moved here around the same time, you know, this is where showbiz is.”

“I’m glad you guys stuck together,” Kris confessed. “Family isn’t always blood.”

“Yeah,” Tommy still sounded wary as though he was expecting Kris to bite at him again. “We’ve been doing some session work, keeps us in the game.”

“I’d like to see you,” Kris said. “All of you.”

“Kris…” Tommy started to refuse but Kris wasn’t about to let this happen.

“Give me another chance,” he begged. “Please.”

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It was like they’d never been apart.

Monte hauled Kris into his arms, hugged him hard and Kris felt the tears burning at the back of his eyes.

“Asshole,” Monte said into his hair.

“Yeah,” Kris agreed, holding on as though Monte was the only stable thing in the world.

Isaac wrapped him in an embrace as well. “Dickhead,” he told him.

“Yeah,” Kris agreed, mouth curved into a warm smile.

Tommy stood back and watched and Kris waited. He looked older, hair longer, white blonde and shaggy.

“You look good,” Kris said.

“Thanks,” Tommy said.

And then they reached for one another, bodies curving into each other, remembering the spaces each had occupied so long ago.

“I hate you for being such a fuckwit,” Tommy whispered into his neck.

Kris tightened his hold and clung. “I missed you every day.”

“It’s not that fucking easy,” Tommy warned him, even as he held on to Kris.

“I’ll make it up to you, somehow,” Kris promised and then he let the tears fall, hot and salty on his cheeks as he felt a hole inside him close.

He opened his eyes and looked at Tommy whose own face was a little damp.

And then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a pale shadow moving towards the door of the restaurant. He stared hard trying to will the stranger to turn, to confirm who it was but then Monte said his name and he turned back and forgot about everything else.

“Boyfriend?” Tommy asked, looking around curiously once they were sitting down.

“He wanted to come but I told him that he could meet you next time. Once I’d grovelled,” Kris grinned.

“So you’re a big shot rock star now, huh?” Monte said, leaning back in his chair.

“One album with one hit song doesn’t make me a star,” Kris said and then leaned forward. “I’m about to go into the studio to work on my next record.”

“Cool,” Isaac said. “Need a session drummer?”

Kris looked at them. “I need a band,” he said. “Interested?”

“Fuck yeah,” Isaac said. “Session work pays the bills, but I want to be a rock star, man!”

Kris looked at Monte. “You still dream about making music?”

“Everyday,” Monte nodded. “Say the word and I’m yours.”

Kris smiled in relief and then turned to Tommy. “What about you?”

Tommy shrugged. “I hear that the lead singer is an asshole.”

Kris grinned. “Rehabilitated asshole,” he corrected.

Tommy grinned back at him. “Yeah, I’m in.”

Kris sat back in his chair and waved at the waitress hovering nearby. “A bottle of your best champagne, please.”

“Flashing the cash?” Monte shook his head.

“I think Ryan needs to meet you guys, sign you to the label as well,” Kris said.

“You mean we’ll actually get paid for a gig?” Isaac joked.

“Paid well too,” Kris nodded. He swallowed hard, suddenly a little overwhelmed. “I’m pretty lucky to have people like you in my life,” he admitted, “and that you’ve let me back into yours.”

“Someone needs to keep you humble,” Monte noted.

“I can’t wait for you guys to meet Brad,” Kris said. “It’s going to be a car crash.”

And he didn’t think about Adam being out there. Much.

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Ryan was thrilled when Kris brought them in as his band.

“What are you going to call yourselves?” he asked.

They all looked at each other. Monte shrugged. “Kris is the household name.”

“What about ‘Kris Allen and the Filthy Habits?” Tommy suggested.

Kris grinned. “Yeah, I like it.” And it stuck. With his friends around him, Kris became more creative than ever, music flowing out of him in oceans of sound.

Of course they were all crazy about Brad.

Brad took one look at Tommy though and Kris knew that he and Brad were over.

Like everything with Brad, ending it was a little crazy and pretty dramatic. Brad expected tears and begging. Kris just smiled and wished them well.

“I fell in love with your ex!” Brad informed him. His eyes were wide and incredulous.

Kris shrugged. “Congratulations?” he offered.

“You’re supposed to be pissed off with me!” Brad exclaimed.

“According to who?” Kris asked. Tommy slouched on the chair in the corner of the recording studio and Kris could see that he was trying not to laugh.

“Everybody!” Brad’s hands waved in the general direction of the universe.

“I’m not everybody,” Kris pointed out.

Tommy stood then and came over to Brad. “Kris is saying that he’s cool with this.”

Brad looked at him, frustration evident in every molecule of his body. “But that’s not normal,” he protested.

“Stop freaking out, man,” Kris said. “We both know we weren’t in love with each other. I’m just happy that you’ve found someone you _do_ love.” He smiled at Brad. “Two of my favourite people fell in love with each other, who am I to stand in the way of true love.” The little twinge in his chest told him that he wasn’t completely cool with it though.

“So not normal,” Brad frowned and his shoulders slumped. “God, you couldn’t even give me a little throwing of plates and cursing?”

Kris grinned. “If you want, sure.”

Brad waved a hand. “It’s not the same if I have to tell you to do it.” Tommy draped a hand over his shoulder.

Kris stepped closer, looked Brad in his eyes. “I just want to say thank you.”

Brad went still. “For what?”

“For showing me that being with someone can be as easy and as uncomplicated as just liking them for who they are.” Kris smiled.

Brad reached out and hugged Kris. “I had a lot of fun with you.”

“Me too,” Kris hugged him back. “But you deserve a great love and I think you’ll agree that you and me, we were a great convenience, not a great love.”

Brad tried to look insulted. “I’m nobody’s convenience, petal.”

Kris looked at Tommy. “Good luck with him,” he said and dodged Brad’s slapping hand. “You’re going to need it!”

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Kris waited to ask Tommy about Adam. He waited for a sign. He thought that he would have to be careful how he handled it because he was just making it right between him and Tommy and he didn’t want to fuck it up all over again.

So he waited.

Kris Allen and the Filthy Habits played their first live gig together at the Viper Room on Sunset. It was dark and small and perfect.

He invited Megan and Allison and they made up flyers and stuck them up wherever they could find an open space. They were still his family, along with the band and were part of his journey as a musician, as a man.

Kris played some covers, some music from his first album and then they played ‘Time of Day’ off the new record. The crowd loved it. One girl threw her bra at Tommy while Brad bristled in the corner. Brad then made sure he stuck his tongue down Tommy’s throat when they took their break.

Kris looked up at the end of their set. He was standing in front of the mic, guitar slung away from him, only Monte’s plaintive electric guitar keeping him company as he sang ‘I Wished for You’ to the silent crowd.

Adam was standing at the door, watching him. Kris felt his entire world shift until all he could see was the sky-blue of Adam’s eyes.

He stumbled on the words and Monte looked at him. He shook his head and sang the last verse.

 _“What is this life I live in now  
How did we come to pass?  
The thing that frightens me the most  
Is that this life will not last”_

He stared at Adam and there again was that moment of recognition, the same gut-deep knowledge that this was who he was meant to be with forever.

Monte sang quietly with him on the final chorus,

 _“ That something was my life before  
I had to give up me  
But in the giving of my heart  
I’ve won, set myself free_

 _Your eyes are opening, brightest blue  
You smile, soft, sleepy, love  
And I know as I lean to kiss  
This life fits like a glove”_

His gaze stayed locked with Adam’s, knowing that Adam understood that this song was about him. About what Kris dreamed of. About what he’d wished for.

The applause dragged his attention away and Tommy put a hand on his shoulder.

“I should have known back then,” Tommy leaned in and whispered. “I think he was made for you.”

Kris stared up at Tommy, eyes wide, heart racing. “I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” Tommy’s face was kind. “Some things are just meant to be.” And for just a moment, Kris thought he could see kaleidoscopes in Tommy’s eyes.

“Thanks everybody,” he said into the mic. “Make sure you buy our new album when it drops in a little while.” The applause was gratifyingly loud.

The set over, he put his guitar down and stepped off the stage. He walked up to Adam and held out a hand. “Hi, I’m not sure if you remember me…”

“Kris,” Adam said and took his hand. He held it longer than was polite but Kris didn’t try to pull away.

“This is going to sound very weird…” Kris began and Adam shook his head.

“Would you like to come home with me?” Adam asked and blinked. “God, I’ve never been _that_ forward before.”

Kris nodded. “Yes.”

And he knew that every answer to every question Adam would ask him that night would be yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

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Adam was perfect.

He was demanding, overwhelming, pushy and slightly insecure. And perfect.

Kris spent the first few weeks of being with Adam in a constant state of disbelief. He kept waiting for Adam to realise that he was boring and not too bright and completely not special in any way. But Adam looked at him as though he was a miracle.

Adam had gone on to a semi-successful solo career when he had split with Tommy and the band. He then got offered a regular part in a sitcom called ‘He’s My Best Friend’ where he played the main character’s crazy over the top gay best friend. It had made him a star.

He woke up most mornings and watched Adam sleep, the sun painting shadow pictures on pale skin. He prayed a lot these days, thanking whichever god might be listening for how his life turned out despite himself.

“I’m not very fun to hang out with when I’m in full on lyric mode,” he apologised one Saturday as he scribbled down words that were beating at his skull to get out.

Adam smiled at him. “I like listening to your brain work.” His eyes were bright and his mouth bare of gloss.

Kris rolled his eyes. “Sometimes I’m just a breathing skin suit,” he said.

Adam leaned over and kissed him. Kris tasted coffee and strawberries and Adam. “Stop insulting my boyfriend,” he told him.

Kris wrinkled his nose. “Boyfriend sounds so high school.”

Adam picked up his coffee mug again. “So what would you prefer? Companion, partner, lover?” His eyes twinkled and Kris thought that he could see forever in their sky-blue depths.

“I like lover,” he said with a grin.

“Loverrrrr,” Adam rolled the ‘r’ and grinned back. “Sounds very grown-up.”

Kris snorted. “I’ll be thirty in a few weeks, I’d better act like a grown-up.”

Adam stared at him. “Oh my god, I’m dating an old man!” He clutched his chest. “I’m going to have to dump you for a younger model!”

Kris lunged for him and dug his fingers into Adam’s sides, tickling mercilessly. Adam whooped with laughter and tried to wriggle away. “Call me old, will ya?” Kris grinned evilly. “I’ll show you old!”

He leaned down and kissed Adam, mouth hot and soft and Adam stopped struggling. His arms came up and around Kris, pulling him down so that he was lying on top of him.

The kiss ended when they decided that air was vitally important for survival. Adam’s cheeks were pink and his mouth was swollen. “You’re gorgeous,” Kris told him, staring down at him in amazement.

“So are you,” Adam assured him and smiled. Kris traced one dark eyebrow with the tip of his finger and then leaned down to press a kiss to the freckle that teased the edge of Adam’s lower lip.

“Move in with me,” Kris said suddenly.

Adam went still and his eyes went wide. “What?” he asked. He sat up, dislodging Kris who grumbled a little at being moved.

Kris took Adam’s hands in his. “Come and live with me, I want us to be together.” Kris felt suddenly sure. “It feels right.” And it did. More right than anything Kris had ever chosen to do before.

Adam scanned his face, looking for what Kris didn’t know and eventually nodded. “Okay.” His smile was like a sunrise that Kris wanted to bask in.

“Yes?” Kris asked, wanting to make sure.

“Yes,” Adam said and sealed the promise with the most tender kiss Kris had ever received. Tenderness sort of went out the window when Adam’s hands went to Kris’ ass cheeks and pulled him up into him. Kris didn’t mind so much.

“We need to talk about stuff,” Kris gasped into Adam’s mouth.

“Like what?” Adam demanded, his fingers digging into Kris’ hips. He moved his lips to Kris’ neck, sucked a deep purple bruise into the soft skin there.

“Rent, food, what to do with your place,” Kris managed as his body went into riot mode.

“Later,” Adam promised and yanked Kris’ t-shirt off, eyes dancing with intent.

“Later,” Kris agreed and let Adam take him over.

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Adam was diagnosed with skin cancer a month later.

“Goddamn freckles,” he joked as he sat with Kris in the oncologist’s office.

Kris couldn’t say anything. His head felt too big for his body and his brain felt like it was going to explode.

“Not possible,” he whispered and he felt Adam squeeze his hand.

The specialist, a no-nonsense woman called Dr. Avery, looked sharply at him. “I assure you that this is very real and if Mr. Lambert doesn’t start with radiation treatment immediately, the consequences will be fatal.”

Kris glared at her and thought about all the ways he could make her die.

“I’d appreciate a little less attitude,” Adam told her. “Your bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.”

Dr. Avery’s face softened a bit. “I’m sorry,” she apologised. “It never gets easier telling people the bad news. I’ve had to deal with some bad news today and you’re bearing the brunt of it. It was very unprofessional of me.”

Adam smile at her and his shoulders relaxed. “Tell me what I need to do,” he said and his fingers squeezed around Kris’ so hard that he lost all feeling in them.

“Radiation is the least invasive,” Dr. Avery said. “Chemotherapy is really a last resort and one that I don’t think we need to take yet.”

Kris was sure he could actually hear the blood rushing through his veins. “I did this,” he said and Adam stared at him.

“God, baby, no of course you didn’t!” he sounded anguished. “I probably spent too much time out in the sun as a kid and it crept up on me.”

Kris wanted to cry. Adam was reassuring _him_ when he’d been the one given the death sentence. Kris felt as though every moment of happiness in his life had been bought at the expense of someone else.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he told Adam and gripped his hand hard.

“We’ll get through it,” Adam told him.

“I’d like to schedule your radiation treatments starting next week,” Dr. Avery said briskly, opening a large diary.

“Of course,” Adam said and he took a deep breath. “What are my chances here?”

She smiled at him then. “You’re young and strong and we’ve picked it up pretty early,” she said. “I’d say about fifty-fifty that we can kill the beast with the radiation alone.”

Adam sucked in a shaky breath. “Those are not the best odds.”

She focused her eyes on him. “It really is better odds than most,” she told him and waggled her pen at him. “So, can we start on Monday?”

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Kris made his third and last wish when he turned thirty.

Adam took a break from his TV show and had been through three weeks of treatment where he’d endured between thirty and fifty seconds of radiation burning into his skin. Kris had taken time off from working on his next album to support Adam in whatever way he needed.

Kris had gone in with him every day, waited for him while the doctors had blasted his skin and taken him home.

“It’s okay,” Adam assured him. “I’m okay, just tired.”

Kris helped him to their bed and stroked his hair away from his face. “I can’t lose you,” he whispered when Adam closed his eyes.

“I’ll do my best,” Adam promised.

Kris went to the backyard and sat beneath the willow tree he’d planted there. It had grown happily next to the creek at the bottom of his garden. The river had been one of the reasons he’d bought this house. It had reminded him just a little of his childhood home.

It was his birthday today and he was alone out here in the sun.

He wasn’t startled or afraid when the stranger appeared. He knew what to expect. He’d come prepared this time.

The sound of wind chimes heralded his appearance and Kris controlled the tightening of his shoulders.

“Happy birthday, Kris,” the stranger said, folding down next to him and sitting cross-legged.

“Thanks,” Kris said and looked out at the water. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

The stranger smiled and Kris could see that it wasn’t a kind smile. “It’s time to make that third wish.”

Kris nodded, still not looking at the stranger. “Yeah, I know.”

“Do you know what you’re going to wish for?” The stranger’s voice was careful and Kris finally turned to stare into eyes that danced with the light of the stars.

“What’s your name?” he asked instead. He’d done some research, found some things out and knew exactly what he was going to ask for with this final wish.

The stranger laughed, the sound setting the willow tree’s branches fluttering in a non-existent breeze. “I can’t tell you that,” bright eyes chided him.

“Why not?” Kris demanded. “You know mine and you’ve been such an important part of my life for so long.”

The stranger’s head shook slowly from side to side. “Very well then, I _won’t_ tell you.”

Kris frowned. “If I guess your name, what do I get?” He’d taken no chances, made sure of his facts. He just prayed that the stranger didn’t know what _he_ knew.

The stranger laughed again but this time the sound made the birds take flight. It was winter and shadow and death. “I don’t think you could.”

“But if I did?” Kris persisted.

The stranger pursed thin lips, tapped a long finger against white cheeks and said eventually, “I will give you three guesses. If you manage to guess my name right, then I will grant you that last wish with no consequences, expect no payment, cause no death. I will grant you your wish as you wish it and that will be all.”

Kris nodded and asked, “And if I can’t guess your name?”

That cruel mouth curved into a smile that showed sharp teeth, pointed and lethal. “Why then you will not get that third wish and I will demand payment without the boon.”

Kris squared his shoulders. “I accept your terms,” he said and held out his hand. Nerves threatened to overtake him. This was too important to fuck up.

Long fingers wrapped around his and cold seeped into his bones. “Done, done and done,” the stranger whispered, and his breath burned hot on Kris’ cheek.

Kris closed his eyes and prayed that he would get this right. Adam’s life depended on it. “So, is it Michael?” he asked and watched as the stranger’s eyes went wide with delight.

“No!,” the stranger gasped, head thrown back with laughter. “No, no, no that’s not my name! Two guesses left and you will owe me your pain.”

Kris took a breath and asked, “Is your name Benjamin?”

The stranger fell back on the grass, laughing so hard Kris was sure that the earth would crack. “No, no, no, no, that’s not my name!” The stranger looked up at him and warned, “one last guess and then I grant you pain.”

Kris got to his feet then and stood over the tall pale length of the stranger. Those kaleidoscope eyes were wide on his face and cheeks flushed with colour from laughing.

“Is your name Rumpelstiltskin?” Kris asked and the stranger leapt up. He held his breath and prayed.

“Who told you that?” Strong fingers dug into Kris’ arms. “A witch must have told you that!” The stranger’s face went paler, grew thinner until Kris could only think of bones covered by skin.

“Am I right?” he asked instead.

“Yes!” Rumpelstiltskin spat. _“Wish me your third wish and wish it well. The third is your last wish or can’t you tell? You’ve spoken my name and I’m sworn to you. So wish me your last wish and I will make it true.”_

Kris looked up towards the house, to where Adam lay sleeping. “I only want one thing,” he said and Rumpelstiltskin watched him warily.

 _“One last wish and that’s all you get,”_ Rumpelstiltskin warned. _“Take care what you wish, it’s not over yet.”_

“I know,” Kris said and he smiled. “Adam is a wonderful man, isn’t he?”

Rumpelstiltskin tipped that cadaverous head to one side, the rage fading from those wondrous eyes. “He is a _good_ man.”

“He makes me happy and he’s very sick and I want to word this wish so carefully that you won’t be able to wiggle out of it.” Kris fixed his eyes on Rumpelstiltskin. “I’ve learned my lesson from the last two wishes.”

Rumpelstiltskin laughed. “Come now, I have promised that this wish will carry no consequences. You can wish for the world and I have to grant it.”

Kris crossed his arms. “My world is in a room in that house sleeping,” he said and he sighed. “So here’s my wish then, Rumpelstiltskin. I wish for Adam and me to have a healthy, happy, long life together in this world and on into the next.”

He sucked in a breath and waited.

Rumpelstiltskin grinned and Kris saw the joy in the dancing eyes. _“This is your last wish, you get it for free. I grant you this wish as a goodbye from me. Your lover is made well, he’s waiting for you. Your third wish is granted, there’s naught more to do.’”_

Kris watched as Rumpelstiltskin did a crazy dance across the grass.

“That’s it?” he asked eventually.

“Done, done and done.” Skeletal fingers waved towards the house. “Go and be with him. Be happy.” Sharp teeth flashed again. “I have not enjoyed granting wishes more than I have with you, Kris.”

Kris took a step away and stopped. “So I get this wish and nobody dies or loses their job or is miserable?” He wanted clarity.

Rumpelstiltskin growled a little. “I keep my promises, human.” And for just a moment, Kris could see the thing inside that was the stuff of nightmares. “Now take your happy ending and live it to the full.”

With a snap and a groan, the earth opened beneath the weeping willow tree and stairs formed in the ground, heading down. Kris watched as Rumpelstiltskin danced down, down, down until the earth closed again and the shaking stopped.

“Kris?” Adam’s voice made him turn and he made his way towards his future.

“Hey,” he chided when he reached Adam. “You’re supposed to be resting.”

Adam shook his head. “It’s the weirdest thing,” he said. “I woke up and suddenly I just knew that the treatments had worked. That I was cured.”

Kris wrapped his arms around Adam and held on tight. He could feel Adam’s bones beneath his hands, evidence of the toll the radiation had taken on his body and he shuddered at what could have been.

“I’m so happy I met you,” he whispered into the warmth of Adam’s neck.

“I love you,” Adam told him.

“I love you more,” Kris said and smiled into Adam’s skin while he laughed.

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If in the years that passed, Kris sometimes caught sight of long fingers and pale skin out of the corner of his eye, he didn’t mention it to anyone.

Adam and Kris got married three years after they met for the second time at the Viper Room. It was the second time that counted after all. The wedding party lasted for a week. Kris felt complete for the first time in his life, content with who he was and who he was with. His parents adored Adam which made his choices even more right.

Archie and Allison got married and had children. Adam and Kris were doting godparents. They were baby sitters for when Archie was being held up by Brad at work or when Allison couldn’t get away from running the bar in time.

Megan sold the bar and moved to Texas with Ryder. Cale followed her and eventually persuaded her to give him a chance.

Brad and Tommy broke up and made up and broke up and made up and kept everyone guessing who would end up killing who. Their eloping to Las Vegas to get married took them all by surprise.

Kris Allen and the Filthy Habits went on to moderate success until eventually Kris decided to focus on writing music rather than being the rock star.

He found that he far preferred the creation process anyway, writing songs that seemed to explode from his soul. People seemed to realize this and came streaming to him for music that would make them famous. He did his best for them all.

Monte, Isaac and Tommy kept the name of The Filthy Habits and carried on making music. They decided that Adam and Kris were tough acts to follow so they kept the band tight with just the three of them. Kris and Adam sometimes showed up at gigs when they were on tour and walked onto the stage to the delight of screaming fans.

Adam and Kris became the poster children for gay marriage even though they refused to get political about it. “You don’t choose who you love,” Kris said once when they were being interviewed by Barbara Walters. “Love is something that happens when you have other plans.”

Adam stayed with TV for a while until he was offered a role as the wizard in the remake of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. His career went like a rocket from there. Kris was sure there was an Oscar in his future.

Alli offered to be a surrogate for Kris and Adam when they talked about children. Being Allison, doing nothing halfway, she gave them twins. Sarah and Steven grew up loved much and loved well.

Sometimes Kris would sit under the weeping willow in their backyard, and write songs about magic and wishes and he would always tear them up, throw them away.

One day his daughter, Sarah, asked him why he never sang or kept the songs he wrote beneath that tree.

“They’re written for Rumpelstiltskin,” he replied.

“Who’s he?” she asked.

“Let me tell you a story,” Kris said instead and she climbed into his lap and he began, “Once upon a time there was a little boy who met a stranger. This stranger told him that he would get three wishes….”

**Author's Note:**

>  **Beta:** my best and fiercest critics  & pom-pom wavers dansetheblues & inbetweencabs. Lord bbs, I keep you busy! ♥ forever. All other mistakes are mine. They are not to blame!  
>  **Notes:** my ‘Bang’ buddy xsilverdreamsx who by now knows exactly what I want. I don’t even have to see her art to know that it’s perfect. But go and tell her how awesome she is anyway, ok?  
>  art here: http://xsilverdreamsx.dreamwidth.org/634.html


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